know, honey.” He picked up the TV remote. He usually slept in the recliner with the TV on. “You should go up to bed and get some sleep. You’ve had a big day. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.”
I told him good night and headed upstairs. Treasure was waiting for me on the bed. He yawned when he saw me and made room as I got changed. With his head settled against my shoulder, he started purring loudly.
Until Maggie decided to make her presence known.
“You meet as many young men as I did, but you don’t have to serve them rum. Why don’t you take advantage of it? Luke likes you. I could tell.”
At that point, Treasure jumped and screeched before he ran downstairs.
“I don’t want to take advantage of it. I love Kevin.”
“I love Thomas too, but there’s always time for a small dalliance, don’t you think?” Maggie giggled.
“No. Not really. I need to go to sleep now. I’m exhausted.”
She rubbed “our” hand across the sheets and my flannel pajamas. “These are so soft—like goose down. You are a fortunate woman, Dae O’Donnell, to be so wealthy.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t go into the fact that I wasn’t wealthy at all, except by her four-hundred-year-old standards. “Good night, Maggie. Mayhap we will have good fortune locating Thomas’s grave soon.”
Maggie subsided and I stared up at the ceiling.
Mayhap?
I had to do something about this blending between us or people wouldn’t be able to understand me, although it did make it easier for me to understand Maggie.
Finding Thomas’s grave might prove to be much harder than finding Maggie’s resting spot, I realized. I had some idea where Maggie’s bones were. But her ship captain, Thomas, could be buried anywhere along the hundred-mile span of the Outer Banks. I hoped I could keep my promise to reunite the lovers.
Of course now I couldn’t go to sleep. I kept thinking about everything that had happened. Gramps just thought being caught digging without a permit would be a bad thing for the upcoming election. If Mad Dog was accused of murder, it would make him unable to continue. I would be the next mayor by default.
I didn’t want to win that way, but I might not have any choice. Mad Dog and I had never been friends, but I hated to see him go down this way. If nothing else, it was a black spot on Duck’s history. Despite the easy win, I hoped it wasn’t true.
• • •
I woke early the next morning feeling like my old self. There were no unusual dreams, and I got dressed in warm clothes and went downstairs for breakfast. There was a brief moment when Maggie admired my blue sweater, but we quickly changed places. It was getting easier to go back and forth. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
Gramps was already gone. There was no sign that he’d eaten. The coffeepot was cold. It was unusual behavior for him. I tried not to worry about it though. He could’ve had an early charter.
“Looks like we’re going out for breakfast.” I grabbed Treasure and put him in the cloth carry-all I’d made. It was bright blue and had ducks all over it and a flap over the top, like a messenger bag, to keep him from jumping out. Not that he ever acted like he wanted to. He seemed to enjoy riding in it and liked being at Missing Pieces with me.
A pang of longing rose in me as I thought of how many days I had been away from the shop. I hardly ever went that long between visits, even if I wasn’t working. I loved the shop and everything in it.
I walked quickly down the road to the Duck Shoppes on the Boardwalk. Cars honked at me and people waved. Most people here knew me. I waved back, happy to be going about my normal daily routine. The weather had turned warm again. The sun was shining down from a clear blue sky.
And a giant photo of me was smiling down from the side of the big, blue Duck water tower.
I stopped walking to stare up at it. I’d never seen anything else besides the town name on the tower. Sure, it was
I told him good night and headed upstairs. Treasure was waiting for me on the bed. He yawned when he saw me and made room as I got changed. With his head settled against my shoulder, he started purring loudly.
Until Maggie decided to make her presence known.
“You meet as many young men as I did, but you don’t have to serve them rum. Why don’t you take advantage of it? Luke likes you. I could tell.”
At that point, Treasure jumped and screeched before he ran downstairs.
“I don’t want to take advantage of it. I love Kevin.”
“I love Thomas too, but there’s always time for a small dalliance, don’t you think?” Maggie giggled.
“No. Not really. I need to go to sleep now. I’m exhausted.”
She rubbed “our” hand across the sheets and my flannel pajamas. “These are so soft—like goose down. You are a fortunate woman, Dae O’Donnell, to be so wealthy.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t go into the fact that I wasn’t wealthy at all, except by her four-hundred-year-old standards. “Good night, Maggie. Mayhap we will have good fortune locating Thomas’s grave soon.”
Maggie subsided and I stared up at the ceiling.
Mayhap?
I had to do something about this blending between us or people wouldn’t be able to understand me, although it did make it easier for me to understand Maggie.
Finding Thomas’s grave might prove to be much harder than finding Maggie’s resting spot, I realized. I had some idea where Maggie’s bones were. But her ship captain, Thomas, could be buried anywhere along the hundred-mile span of the Outer Banks. I hoped I could keep my promise to reunite the lovers.
Of course now I couldn’t go to sleep. I kept thinking about everything that had happened. Gramps just thought being caught digging without a permit would be a bad thing for the upcoming election. If Mad Dog was accused of murder, it would make him unable to continue. I would be the next mayor by default.
I didn’t want to win that way, but I might not have any choice. Mad Dog and I had never been friends, but I hated to see him go down this way. If nothing else, it was a black spot on Duck’s history. Despite the easy win, I hoped it wasn’t true.
• • •
I woke early the next morning feeling like my old self. There were no unusual dreams, and I got dressed in warm clothes and went downstairs for breakfast. There was a brief moment when Maggie admired my blue sweater, but we quickly changed places. It was getting easier to go back and forth. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
Gramps was already gone. There was no sign that he’d eaten. The coffeepot was cold. It was unusual behavior for him. I tried not to worry about it though. He could’ve had an early charter.
“Looks like we’re going out for breakfast.” I grabbed Treasure and put him in the cloth carry-all I’d made. It was bright blue and had ducks all over it and a flap over the top, like a messenger bag, to keep him from jumping out. Not that he ever acted like he wanted to. He seemed to enjoy riding in it and liked being at Missing Pieces with me.
A pang of longing rose in me as I thought of how many days I had been away from the shop. I hardly ever went that long between visits, even if I wasn’t working. I loved the shop and everything in it.
I walked quickly down the road to the Duck Shoppes on the Boardwalk. Cars honked at me and people waved. Most people here knew me. I waved back, happy to be going about my normal daily routine. The weather had turned warm again. The sun was shining down from a clear blue sky.
And a giant photo of me was smiling down from the side of the big, blue Duck water tower.
I stopped walking to stare up at it. I’d never seen anything else besides the town name on the tower. Sure, it was
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